Call for creative works and papers:
Sightlines 2019
Screen Production and the Academy

The Screen & Sound Cultures research group within RMIT University’s School of Media and Communication, in collaboration with the Australian Screen Production Education and Research Association (ASPERA), is pleased to announce the third Sightlines festival to be held between 2nd and 4th December 2019 in Melbourne.

Sightlines 2019 will be part festival and part conference.  It has two main purposes: to showcase the full range of screen production that occurs in the higher education sector; and to contribute to the development of screen production as an academic research discipline. The focus of this event will be screenings, demonstrations of creative works and creative practice works, and conversations with industry and academia, drawing in practitioners working with a research focus across both sectors.

The inaugural Sightlines conference in 2014 demonstrated the need for an event that highlighted the quality and diversity of creative screen-based works produced in the higher education sector. The focus of that event was on short and feature-length work suitable for cinema exhibition and included documentaries, dramas, essay and experimental films. In 2016 we expanded this scope to also include presentations of work from other sites of exhibition, such as screenwriting, online, interactive and non-linear productions.

In 2019, we are expanding the scope again; to those working with sound and music within their screen production research. We also aim to encourage productive conversations between those working in academia and the screen industry, by asking what the academy can learn from industry, and in turn, how academics can contribute criticality and research frameworks to imagine new possibilities for the screen production sector. We are calling for the following types of proposals:

• Exhibition of creative works and creative screen practice accompanied by short author talk
• Creative practice research papers
• Papers and panels addressing aspects of screen production industry practice

Proposals for papers, panels, presentations and creative works will explore topics directly or indirectly that may include:
• How is film and filmmaking in the academy evolving?
• What new forms of screen production are emerging and in what ways is creative practice research engaging with them?
• How can practitioners focusing on the use of sound and music in creative screen works operate in and around the field of screen production research?
• How can screen production methodologies be developed as academic research disciplines?
• On what basis should the peer review of creative practice works be conducted?
• How can creative practice research in screen production be funded or otherwise supported?
• How can the relationship between creative practice in the academy and the broader media industries be understood and further strengthened?
Sightlines has had many conversations around the peer-review process and publication of screen works. We understand this is a critical process, and we will be encouraging and facilitating delegates to pursue publication and dissemination of their works following Sightlines 2019.

Submission guidelines:
Exhibition of Creative Works
Please submit a preview copy via online link with a 300-word statement that contextualises the work. This may be a research statement that explicates the background, significance and contribution of the work. This statement might provide an understanding of the context of the work, the community of practice in which you are operating, any research question/s your work seeks to address, how the importance of the work can be understood, and/or how the impact of the work might be measured. We accept creative works that contribute to understandings of screen production research as well as other fields. Any screen production completed after 2015 is eligible, but we ask that you contextualise the work with your accompanying statement. If your work has specific exhibition requirements, please include these in your submission. Please contact patrick.kelly@rmit.edu.au if you have questions or concerns.


Creative Practice Research and Screen Production Industry Practice Presentations
Please submit a 300-word abstract outlining your proposed paper, panel or presentation, including name, title and affiliation of each author.


Please submit all proposals via this form.
**** Extended Deadline: Abstracts and previews of films to be submitted by June 30, 2019.

Please submit a separate form for each proposal.